Above all, Flip Saunders was a basketball fan who wanted to bring all of Minnesota's basketball fans along on the bandwagon that he planned to build with the Wolves. Drafting Karl-Anthony Towns was the start.

Nancy Kerrigan shouted questions. A reporter asked Bill Belichick what made this Super Bowl different. "It's in Minnesota,'' he deadpanned. The game's hype, with off-the-wall characters and plenty of odd questions, arrived at the X in full force.

Vikings vs. Saints will provide the marquee matchup of the weekend, and the winner likely will be favored to play in the Super Bowl. Things will be much different than when the teams met in Week 1 of the season.

The Vikings are the reason there are no NFC North teams playing this weekend, and their dominance of what promised to be an intriguing division race has altered their opponents' plans, maybe even prompted mistakes.

The Vikings' quarterback hierarchy for the remainder of this season is set. The quarterback hierarchy for the future remains muddled, and probably will be determined by Case Keenum's playoff performance.

If you thought Minnesota had turned a corner by scoring 54 points against Nebraska, you were wrong. If you think P.J. Fleck has no chance to win because of one bad game, you're dangerously jumping to conclusions.

The Browns are 0-7 this season. Their best player this decade, left tackle Joe Thomas, was lost for the season last week and their best young player, defensive end Myles Garrett, won't play because of a concussion.

London combines the best of New York, Boston and San Francisco. You can question the logistics and logic behind the NFL's attempt to interest the U.K. in American football. You cannot question the NFL's taste.